Scared to Start My Dream
24 Aug 2018 · 8 min
Brendon TEST Burchard talks about the fear that stops people from starting their dreams. He says to start small, embrace the journey, and find mentors. Overcoming embarrassment and fear of failure comes down to incremental progress and learning from others.
You need to figure out what is the first mile towards your dream, not what's the finish line look like. Of course, if you look at the finish line, it's intimidating. You look at somebody who already has the perfect life and they've done it all already. But it only begins if you're okay starting small and taking on little bites at your dream and not trying to eat the whole thing all at once because it will overwhelm you. Hey, my friends. It's Brendon burchard and welcome to another episode of the brendon show. People say, brendan, I'm scared to start my dream. I'm like, you're not scared to start your dream. You're embarrassed to be seen starting small. Big difference. It's not about the dream that's freaking you out. It's about how you're going to feel chasing the dream. It's about how you're going to be perceived chasing the dream. It's about how you fear at night it won't turn out the way you wanted. It's not about the dream. It's about how you're processing how it will feel chasing the dream. And once you figure that out, you see that you can rewire yourself. You can teach yourself to think differently about the journey and the process. Because, look, no matter how small you start, start something that matters. Start something that brings your life back, you know, Start something that makes your heart feel full. Start something that does scare you. Allow that fear, allow that worry, allow that anxiety a little bit. Because that's just saying you're growing, you're learning, you're changing, you're getting going. But let's be very clear. Most people, what they're really scared about is being embarrassed. Well, I don't know if I quit my job and I start this thing, what do my co workers think when I do that? I don't know. If I start this, what are my friends gonna say when they see me playing small and not doing big things? Because every big starts with small little tasks that don't look sexy. Oh, what's everyone think about me? That I chose this route when the other thing was over here and that was a better choice. What people are scared about is being rejected or more being embarrassed. I tell people all the time, don't be embarrassed to start small. I think about when I started doing videos. You know, it wasn't, we're at 200 million video views now. I mean, tell you what, when I started, I was okay with the fact that it was like 10 people watching my videos, you know, nine of them was my mom on a different browser's probably hitting refresh to make me feel better about myself. You know, like, I accepted the fact that starting small was part of the game. Instead of bemoaning that I honored that process, I said, that is part of it. Being small in a big pond with big fish is part of the game. And only until you keep playing, keep moving, keep building, do you ever become one of the big fish. You have to be okay with being small. And so if you start your channel or you start your thing and only 100 people watch it, hey, that's a people who heard your message. That's a hundred people who you help. That's a hundred people who you change your mindset for. That's a hundred people who let you do your own thing and watch. And even if they were haters, at least you started penetrating their mind. Get in the game. Never be embarrassed about starting small or scrappy or crappy, because that's part of the journey. It's supposed to be that way. So don't fear it. Acknowledge that's part of it. I'm gonna honor that. Let's go. Also. Second big idea I have for everybody is like, the reason people are scared to start their dream is because they're seeing this big, complex thing. I mean, they're looking out, and it's this huge thing. They see the complexity of the final vision of the dream, and so starting now is too overwhelming. They're not scared to start the dream. They're scared of the feeling of feeling overwhelmed. That's what they're scared of. So how do you deal with that? Stop thinking. You have to have everything perfect and complete at the beginning. The Finish line is 26 miles ahead. What matters now is step one, two, three, four. The first mile. You need to figure out what is the first mile towards your dream, not what's the finish line look like. Of course, if you look at the finish line, it's intimidating. You look at somebody who already has the business you want. You look at somebody who already has the car and the dream, the house and the perfect life, and they've done it all already. They're 5, 10, 15, 20 years in front of you, and it seems so complex. You say, why should I even start? Look how far ahead they are. They had more miles. They put more miles in, but you can't compete with their miles. You got to start with your first step right here, right now. You go, okay, I'm going to be okay. Starting small and instead of trying to, in day one, have it all complete and take on all the complexity, I'm going to do one thing here. Three goals today, three goals the next day, three goals the next day. And I'm going to get that momentum going because with that momentum comes more motivation. With that momentum, more learning. With that momentum, more progress. But it only begins if you're okay starting small and taking on little bites at your dream and not trying to eat the whole thing all at once because it will overwhelm you. My last big idea is people are scared to start their big dreams because they fear their dream won't work out. They think, oh, well, Brendan, you know, what if I do all that work and on the other side of things, you know, the grass isn't greener. I went through all that work and I put my heart and I put my soul into it. Brennan, it doesn't work. And, I mean, how do I feel about myself? And, you know, I have responsibilities to my family or to other people, and I do all the things that doesn't turn out. And they're so scared it's not going to work. And that's why I say, my friend, get yourself a mentor. Get yourself a plan. Get yourself in the proximity of someone who's done it before so they can guide you, so they can cheer you on. Of course you're going fear it's not going to work out if you can't see where it's going to go, if you can't see how other people have gotten there. So read their biographies, study their process, read their books, take their courses, engage their material, ask the questions. There's so much. I mean, the world is full of mentors that you can access with a direct message. Now use that. Ask the questions. There's seminars, there's live events, there's online courses, everywhere available for you. There's a bajillion TED talks, there's a bajillion biographies. Why aren't you consuming more of those? To understand people's emotional journey, to understand their process, to understand the big decisions that they made, to understand their regrets, to understand their lessons. Of course you're scared to start if you haven't seen the illuminated journey of others. But once you see the map they took, once you hear their process, once you learn the mistakes they made, now that emboldens you. Your mind goes, oh, I got a little more clarity here. With more clarity comes more confidence. With more clarity, confidence, momentum, you'll go after that dream, my friend, no matter how small you start. Start something that matters. If you're ready to take your life to a whole new level, make sure you grab my book, High Performance Habits How Extraordinary People Become that Way. It's available on Amazon right now. And when you order your copy, you're really supporting my channel and the message. And you're also getting a book that will reveal to you 20 years of my research. What is it that helps people go to a new level of success in their life? What does it really take? What habits are proven to help you reach long term success in your career, your health, your personal life, your relationships? It's called High Performance Habits How Extraordinary People Become that Way. It's available on Amazon right now.